Jury Acquits Man In '91 Hit

Suspect: I Was Too High To Remember Anything

David Rauch took an unusual approach in his first-degree murder trial when he took the witness stand: He said he was too high on drugs to remember whether he did it.

The approach worked.

On Thursday, a jury acquitted Rauch of first-degree murder and armed robbery for allegedly helping kill and rob millionaire Missouri businessman John Charles Bray, 63, at his Lighthouse Point townhouse in an apparent murder-for-hire in the summer of 1991.

If convicted, Rauch, 23, could have faced life in prison or death in the electric chair.

Although he still has a burglary charge against him in a separate case, he was freed from the Broward County Jail on his own recognizance on Thursday for the first time since his arrest in 1992.

``The jury reached what was a difficult decision but it was entirely appropriate in light of the evidence,'' said Keith Seltzer, Rauch's attorney. ``I only hope David learns this lesson, and that is that he's free today and he has a second chance. Not everyone gets a second chance.''

Rauch's mother, Donna Rauch, said she was stunned with the verdict: ``I'm just so thankful he's coming home. After all this time in the jail, he's coming home. He's always been a good kid.''

A disappointed prosecutor, Deborah Zimet, said she respected the jury's verdict.

``I have a difference of opinion as to what the evidence showed, but they deliberated [for 12 hours) and that's all the state can ask,'' Zimet said. ``I appreciate the time and effort.''

Seltzer put forth a ``diminished capacity'' defense in which he said Rauch was too intoxicated from alcohol or drugs to form the intent to commit first-degree murder. Rauch testified that he had smoked marijuana all day, then drank two bottles of wine and took two hits of LSD just before he met three other codefendants - Jason Serrano, David Maples and John Jones.

``He had done so much drugs he didn't have any idea what was happening,'' Seltzer told jurors during his closing statement. ``Not one state witness came in here and told you they were with David and he wasn't wasted.''

Rauch told the 12 jurors he remembered nothing.

``I don't even remember being in the house at all,'' Rauch said. When shown a picture of Bray's beaten face, he said: ``I couldn't have done something like that.''

But Zimet told jurors that Rauch gave too many details about the murder in a statement to police to suddenly forget his actions.

``This is a man who was involved in a murder for $1,500, but now claims he has no idea why he got the money,'' Zimet said.

This was Rauch's second trial. The first ended in a mistrial in April when a detective misspoke while on the stand.

Zimet said Rauch, then 17; along with Jones, then 16; Serrano, then 20; and Maples, then 19, committed the murder and split a $5,000 payment from two Missouri men.

According to testimony from Maples, Rauch and Jones attacked Bray early July 15, 1991, after Bray drove up to his waterfront townhouse in a van. They forced Bray into his home in the 2600 block of Northeast 26th Avenue, where Rauch tied up Bray's 89-year-old mother and helped beat and stomp Bray to death. Maples said he and Serrano stayed in the car.

Maples in 1992 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in exchange for his testimony against the others.

Serrano's trial is set for Aug. 12; Jones' for Sept. 12.

Prosecutors said the murder plot stretched from Missouri to Florida and back.

The youths, all from Pompano Beach, told police they were acting under the orders of Loren Jones, 56, and Robert Russell, 48, both of Kansas City, Mo.

According to a 1993 federal indictment, the two men hired the teens to kill Bray, then president and owner of American Lodgings Inc.

The indictment identified a ``Mrs. X'' as the person who hired Loren Jones and Russell. Federal investigators and Bray's family have since identified Ms. X as Mary Jane Parrish, who now controls Bray's holdings.

According to the federal indictment, Parrish, who was never charged in the plot, had the most to gain from Bray's death because Bray had willed his holdings to her. Investigators have never been able to link Parrish to Russell and Loren Jones, however.

The murder plot was allegedly hatched, according to the indictment, when Bray threatened to cut Parrish from his will. At Bray's death, Parrish inherited and now runs the businesses, prosecutors said.

Loren Jones and Russell have both pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in federal court in the Bray case. Jones received 12 years in prison and Russell was sentenced to 27 years.